1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a circuit arrangement including a power MOSFET having an inductive load which lies between the source of the power MOSFET and a first terminal, and the drain of the power MOSFET connected to a second terminal.
2. Background of the Invention
Such a circuit arrangement has been described, for example, in the German journal "Electronic Industrie", 4-1985, pages 32 to 38. FIG. 1 of the present application illustrates a simplified representation of this prior art circuit arrangement. The problem of limiting the negative, voltage peak occurring upon disconnection of an inductive load is solved therein in the generally customary manner by connecting a diode Di in parallel with the inductive load L, the parallel combination being connected in series with the power MOSFET T 1 on the source side. Thus, the negative voltage peak occuring upon disconnection is limited to the forward voltage drop of the diode, but the energy stored in load L is reduce only very slowly due to the low value of the driving countervoltage.